BBC claims Jasper failed to declare foreign travel on U.S. trip

The probe by BBC London showed he spent almost two weeks in the summer of 2006 travelling to Chicago, then to Jamaica, to New York, then back to Jamaica again before returning to London. But only parts were declared, raising questions over who paid for the trips and the flights.

The schedule saw him flying to Chicago on 11 June for a two-night stay to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Jessie Jackson's civil rights organisation the Rainbow Push Coalition. Leaked emails reveal the London Development Agency was pressed by MrJasper to pay for the Chicago part of the trip. Two days later, he flew to Jamaican capital Kingston - a £2,300 trip paid for by City Hall - for a conference for a group designed to help Jamaicans living abroad find ways to bring benefits back to their homeland.

He flew to New York three days later for a diversity event, spending four nights in the city. This leg of the trip was paid for by a commercial company, Virtcom, which had earlier received £40,000 from the LDA for a similar diversity event in Prague.

A spokesman for Virtcom said Mr Jasper was not paid to talk at the event but under City Hall rules, he should have declared any free flights or accommodation he received.

The GLA would not say whether Mr Jasper had done this or not.

The trips were arranged by his then deputy, Rosemary Emodi, who quit last month for lying about a free foreign trip she had taken.

The itinerary for Mr Jasper's trip revealed he was due to fly back to Britain after the second stay in New York but instead f lew back to Jamaica where he spent two nights staying at the Hilton Hotel in Kingston. The nature of his second stay there is unknown and the Mayor's office refused to reveal the reason behind the trip, whether Mr Jasper was on official business, who paid for that leg of his time away and whether it had been approved by the Mayor's office. After nearly a fortnight away, Mr Jasper flew back to Kingston before f lying back to the UK towards the end of June. He is now being called to the London Assembly to be questioned over the details of his fortnight trip.

Tory assembly member Brian Coleman said: "Mr Jasper seems to have taken on some sort of international ambassador globetrotting role. I'm not sure what benefit there was to the people of London in this."

London Assembly Lib-Dem Mike Tuffrey said: "We have to declare interests, that's all in the public domain, or it should be, and if it's not, then that raises the most serious questions about the way the Mayor is conducting his office and the way he allows people to act in his name."

Click on the links below to read the original emails between Lee Jasper and Karen Chouhan

"Torrid and passionate embrace..."

"How many ways do I love thee?"

"I'm not bothered..."

"There is lots to talk about..."